Candid Notes

A senior member of TSR cabinet found himself in an odd situation after a committee of ministers headed by him recommended to do away with the existing system of reservation roster in the government jobs. On the suggestion of the committee, the state cabinet proposed to implement a new system of roster in which the candidates belonging to SC category would be placed at sixth position in determination of roster in new recruitment in government services of Uttarakhand, corporations and educational institutes. As of now, the first position in roster is earmarked for SC candidates. The decision was welcomed by the General and OBC job seekers as they termed it correction of a long standing error and supported it by stating that a similar pattern is followed by Centre. However, the candidates belonging to SC category strongly opposed the move which left the minister flummoxed. Perplexed at the prospects of losing his support base, the Minister who had switched sides just before the assembly elections in Uttarakhand has now raised question on the decision of Cabinet. Intriguingly the minister has said that he was kept in dark by the department of personnel on the issue.

Sting’s stigma

The Netaji must be cursing the moment when that shrewd person wished to meet him during the tumultuous phase when his government was under threat from open rebellion by his MLAs. In the meeting this person offered to help Netaji out from the tough times but clandestinely made a recording of the politician’s response from a spy camera and aired the sting on his television news channel which is now defunct. The purported sting proved costly to the Netaji as the opposition used it to hilt in the assembly elections that followed and was catapulted to power. The ghost of the sting CD is still haunting Netaji with CBI telling the court which is monitoring the case, that it is planning to register a case against him. Though the leaders of his party in the state antagonistic to him have announced support to Netaji on the issue, the astute politician in him knows it too well that all such talks are hollow and he would have to wage the battle himself.

Saint Boris School

Bureaucrat R K Sudhanshu narrated an interesting anecdote during a programme organised to commemorate Teachers’ Day. The IAS officer said that in an informal gathering which chiefly consisted of old students of prestigious Doon School and chief minister of Punjab, Captain Amrinder Singh who incidentally is scion of royal family of Patiala, someone asked him the name of his alma mater. Since the officer had studied in a humble government owned school, he felt somewhat awkward but gave an ingenious reply which left everyone in peals of laughter. “I told them than I had studied in Saint Boris School to which they asked me where it is located. I then explained that I had studied in a school where every student used to carry a piece of Bori (sack) to sit, hence I call it Saint Boris,’’ quipped the officer. By sharing the information, the officer also paid his respects to his teachers who were instrumental in shaping his future.